Shrek #16 Reggie’s Take Movie Franchise Countdown

By Reggie's Take on July 21, 2014

Shrek, an animated movie franchise about a green ogre enjoying the solitude of his swamp until he meets up with a talking donkey and his life as an ogre is turned upside down. Shrek comes in at #16 in my Reggie’s Take movie franchise countdown.

The rights to the books were originally bought by Steven Spielberg in 1991, before DreamWorks was founded. In 1994 John H. Williams convinced Spielberg to bring the project over to DreamWorks.

After the rights were bought by the studio in 1995 the film was put into development by Jeffrey Katzenberg. Shrek was originally being voiced by Chris Farley, he recorded about 80%–90% of his dialog before he died in 1997. After Farley’s death, Mike Myers was brought in to re-voice the character, who after his first recording decided to record his voice in a Scottish accent.

Shrek earned $484.4 million at the box office worldwide becoming a critical and commercial success. The success of Shrek prompted DreamWorks to create three sequels, Shrek 2, Shrek the Third, and Shrek Forever After.

In total the Shrek movies have taken in $1,270,347,989 world wide, with rumors there might be a fifth movie down the line.

Main Cast: Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas

Reggie’s Take:
The Shrek movies maybe animated, they may even be aimed at kids for the most part, but the Shrek franchise as a whole is just as enjoyable for the adults.

The Shrek films are some of my favorite animated films of all time. They are never dull, no matter how many times I watch them. Of the four movies the first one is by far the best. The sequels have their merit and good qualities on their own.

Does Shrek deserve to be a top 10 franchises? Maybe if the countdown were all animated features, then I would say yes. It would be most deserving of a top 5 for sure. For me personally I would of loved to have seen it closer to the top ten, but there are so many great movie franchises out there, for Shrek to land at #16 is very respectful, unfortunately for Shrek another animated franchise did manage to crack the top 10.

Shrek / Dreamworks / 2001

Shrek is a big ogre who lives alone in the woods, feared by all the people in the land. When Lord Farquaad, exiles all the fairy-tale beings to the woods, Shrek loses his peaceful life and his home becomes a refugee camp. So he sets out to find Lord Farquaad and convince him to take the fairy-tale beings back where they belong, and leave him alone. Lord Farquaad accepts, under one condition.

Shrek must first go and find the beautiful young princess Fiona, who will become Farquaad’s bride. So the big Ogre begins his quest, along with his new found friend donkey. Princess Fiona, who is waiting for her one true love. But once they start back with Fiona, it becomes apparent that not only does Shrek like Fiona, but Fiona is keeping something secret.

Shrek 2 / Dreamworks / 2004

Shrek has rescued Princess Fiona, got married, and now is time to meet the parents. Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey set off to Far, Far Away to meet Fiona’s mother and father. But not everyone is happy. Shrek and the King find it hard to get along, and there’s tension in the marriage. It’s not just the family who are unhappy. Prince Charming returns from a failed attempt at rescuing Fiona, and works alongside his mother, the Fairy Godmother, to try and find a way to get Shrek away from Fiona.

Shrek the Third / Dreamworks / 2007

When Fiona’s father and King of Far Far Away passes away, Shrek becomes the immediate successor of the throne. However, Shrek decides to find the legitimate heir Artie in a distant kingdom with Donkey and Puss in Boots to be able return to his beloved house in the swamp with the pregnant Fiona. Meanwhile, the envious and ambitious Prince Charming joins the villains of the fairytales plotting a coup d’état to become the new king.

Shrek Forever After / Dreamworks / 2010

A bored and domesticated Shrek pacts with deal-maker Rumpelstiltskin to get back to feeling like a real ogre again, but when he’s duped and sent to a twisted version of Far Far Away where Rumpelstiltskin is king, ogres are hunted, and he and Fiona have never met, he sets out to restore his world and reclaim his true love.